


Hawke's Eye View

by elfenphoenix



Series: Therilli Lavellan [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon-Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Hawke in Dragon Age: Inquisition, Hawke is a nosy little shit, Warrior Hawke (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22326136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfenphoenix/pseuds/elfenphoenix
Summary: Hawke has never been one to mind her own business, and she doesn't plan on starting now that she's helping out the Inquisition. Not when it comes with the juicy opportunity to tease former Kirkwall Knight-Captain Cullen for his crush on the (truly impressive) Inquisitor.Of course, it's the cat that curiosity kills, but it's not without risk for the Hawke.
Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford, Fenris/Female Hawke
Series: Therilli Lavellan [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606168
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Hawke's Eye View

Naiyah Hawke had to admit, as soon as she had read the part of Varric’s letter informing her that Kirkwall’s former Knight-Captain, Cullen Rutherford, was now Commander of the Inquisition’s forces, she had begun preparations for the journey to Skyhold immediately.

Not because she was eager to see Varric again (though she certainly was), or because she found the Inquisition to be a cause worthy of helping (though she _did_ ), or because it was time for her to move again before more Chantry fanatics found her (though it was), No, Hawke was moved to action because the opportunity to gently torture Cullen was far too much temptation to pass up.

So she’d been a good girl, meeting Varric up on the battlements, as he’d asked, knowing that showing herself too soon would reduce her chances for teasing the good Commander. She’d met the Inquisitor, a lovely, dark-skinned Dalish elven warrior with a proud, confident posture that set her apart from both Merril and Fenris. 

She was a truly impressive woman, Hawke knew immediately upon meeting her, even without the mark on her hand or the impressive tales Varric had spun about her in his letters. With her biting humor and otherwise honest nature, going directly to the business at hand, she had won Hawke’s respect almost instantly.

But now that their conversation had ended, Hawke found herself with a delightful amount of freedom, from her viewpoint on the battlements able to see just about everything that occurred in Skyhold, including Cullen’s makeshift desk down in the courtyard.

First, of course, she had watched with amusement as the Seeker of Truth, Cassandra Pentaghast, hunted Varric down with a ferocity that intimidated even Naiyah Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall. The subsequent yelling as she confronted Varric for his deception was loud and angry enough for Hawke to hear and feel it clearly, even at such a distance. Much as she cared for Varric, her good, good, even best friend… she didn’t feel like trading places with him on _that_ front.

Only once she had watched the Seeker stalk out of the requisition office, the door slamming behind her, then return to slicing up training dummies, did Hawke feel safe enough to begin wandering the castle grounds. 

She was happy to be far enough from Kirkwall that only a few people recognized her, even in her distinctive Champion armor. It was an anonymity she had not felt for some time. To most, she was just one more strange recruit to the Inquisition’s motley assortment of nutcases.

She was just about to come down the battlements to pester Cullen when the Inquisitor herself reemerged, talking to Varric, laughing at something he said, then parting as a group of soldiers accosted her, asking her eagerly for pointers, criticism, anything.

Hawke respected how quickly Lavellan dealt with her young admirers, and with how much grace. A few tests of the sword. A few jokes. A light laugh.

But Hawke also noticed, from her vantage point _just_ behind Cullen, that even as he busily gave orders to soldiers, his gaze kept drifting back to the Inquisitor’s face. And how, at least a few times, her gaze drifted back. And once, she even broke eye contact with the solider altogether and smiled at him, a brief moment before he quickly ducked his head back down to “look at his reports,” but unable to hide the smile on his own face. And she, meanwhile, kept a light smile on her lips as she tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear, returning to her discussion with the recruits.

 _Oh, this is going to be more fun than I expected,_ Hawke thought, a wicked grin spreading across her face as she strolled cavalierly behind Cullen.

“I saw that.”

He jumped, spinning to face her. “Hawke! So you _are_ here. No wonder Cassandra was furious. I-- you-- don’t sneak up on me like that!”

She grinned, recognizing how clearly she’d caught him. “Come now, Knight-Captain Cullen. I’m wearing a full set of plate armor. I couldn’t possibly do any sneaking. You were merely… preoccupied.”

“I was not--! Mind your own business, Hawke.”

Hawke laughed. “Really, Cullen, have you _ever_ , even once, in all the time you were in Kirkwall, known me to keep my nose out of _anyone’s_ business?”

He opened his mouth to argue, then shut it, knowing that any disagreement would be objectively untrue. “I should not distract her. And we are _not_ talking about this here.”

Hawke raised an eyebrow, but only leaned around him, pointedly examining the rest of the courtyard. “Oh, she’s looking at you again.”

“What?!” He stopped himself from falling to the temptation of finding out if she was lying. “ _Stop_ that!”

Hawke laughed again. “Yooouuuuu’re in loooove with her.”

His ears were reddening, and Hawke was certain that she had to talk to Varric about this as soon as possible. 

“I… have a great deal of respect for her, that is all. Now leave me be. Or are you only cooperating with the Inquisition so that you can torment me?”

“Well, it’s certainly a contributing factor.”

“I _helped_ you!” He replied indignantly, enough rare emotion in his voice to make some soldiers turn to look. “We left Kirkwall on the same side! I even fought alongside you against Meredith!”

“Yeah… but you also allowed Templars to harass my sister for six years and temporarily even considered the idea of making all mages Tranquil, so…” she leaned closer with a wicked grin. “Payback time.”

And then she strolled off, already planning the next stage of how to torment Cullen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, Hawke didn’t wish Cullen any _genuine_ harm. He _had_ , after all, eventually made the right decisions, and the weary, scarred man she saw commanding the Inquisition’s forces was a far cry from the preachy, mage-frightened man he’d been in Kirkwall. All things considered, she thought her actions had been a good influence on him. She didn’t even dislike him now. She wanted to see him squirm a little, nothing more.

Which is why she was ever so delighted when she received a message asking her to go meet the commander in his new office. Although she certainly first let slip to Varric where she was going, she otherwise headed there immediately, knocking on the door and calling out cheerily, “Naiyah Hawke here, at personal request~!”

The door swung open and Cullen waved her inside, quickly shutting it behind her. “I don’t know what to do about this, Hawke.”

She raised an eyebrow. “ ‘This?’ What’s ‘this’? Oohhhh, you mean your raging affection for Lavellan.” She paused a beat. “And you want _my_ help?”

“I don’t know, you’re… one of the only people here who actually knew me in Kirkwall. And you already _know_ , so there’s no need to keep it a secret from you. But… it’s distracting me from my work, Hawke. I can’t be of use to her if, in the middle of giving orders, I start thinking _about_ her!” He slammed his hand against his desk, the other hand pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes. “Just… you’re here to mock me, yes? Tell me that I’m being foolish, that I am no good for her anyway. Go on, I’m ready.”

Hawke stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, before bursting into delighted laughter. “ _Wow_ , you’re further gone than I thought!” She laughed again, leaning against the far wall and crossing her arms. “You. Need. To. Talk. To. Her.”

The horrified expression that crossed his face at the thought of it was incredibly amusing.

“No, I couldn’t… her time is precious and I wouldn’t want to waste it… on something so selfish as…”

Hawke rolled her eyes. “Look, I’ve already gone through _immense_ effort to set up one pair of completely hopeless blockheads, and once was _enough_. I’ve learned my lesson, and I’m passing it, in my infinite Champion-of-Kirkwall wisdom, to you: _please_ , just talk to her. Just tell her how you feel. She doesn’t strike me as nearly so dense as Aveline was. It’ll be easy. Just be direct about it. No dancing around it, with gifts or subtlety or any of that stuff. Ends badly. Even better! She’s a fighter, just like you and me, so she’s probably an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of woman. So if your clumsy tongue starts failing you, you can always just, y’know… go for it. Use your tongue for something else.”

“Because _that_ won’t end badly.”

“It won’t, I promise,” she said, with her fingers crossed behind her back.

Cullen leaned over his desk, closing his eyes and breathing deeply to force himself to relax. “And does that work for you? You talk as if you’ve conquered love, but you came to Skyhold alone.”

At that, a stab of pain went through her heart, echoing into her expression, both of which she took a moment to get firmly back under control. All the fun games she’d been playing with Cullen, and it took him only a moment to find the weak spot in her armor. He was truly an accomplished fighter, after all. She supposed she had to respect him for that.

“Fenris… would stand in the way of every blade in Thedas if it would keep me safe. And since many of those blades _were_ turned on me for allowing Anders to live after what he’d done… the best thing I could do was to keep those blades away from him altogether.”

She leaned her head back against the wall, sighing. “Maker, he’ll be _furious_ when he finds me again.”

“You’re not exactly painting a rosy picture for me, here. Which, I suppose, I asked you to do, but… that’s not quite what I meant.”

Hawke snorted, straightening up. “Yes, well, I waited _three years_ for that fool to be ready to love me. I think I can handle his petty rage for a few minutes.” She smiled a bit at the thought, then grew serious. “But Fenris and I are very different people from you and the Inquisitor. That much should be obvious. You’re both so _good_ it’s frankly revolting. Not everyone bonds over the blood on their hands.”

She shook her head, clearing her mind of thoughts of Fenris, concentrating on slowing down her heart, which had begun to race as soon as she had said his name. “So _no_ , Cullen, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going to convince you not to go after her. I’m telling you the opposite. Seriously, what’s the worst that can happen? She rejects you and things get a little _awkward_ working together? Imagine keeping her at your side for three years, all the while remembering the heat of her skin against yours even though she refuses to touch you again. Now _that’s_ awkward. In comparison, you’ve got it _great_.”

He looked at her for a long while, the same look in his eyes as he’d had in Kirkwall when he’d turned on Knight-Commander Meredith, the same look of a man whose entire worldview was shifting. He was reevaluating her, she knew. Which was fair. Had Hawke ever shown him any side of herself aside from biting humor? She wasn’t sure she ever had, until now.

Then, finally, “If it was so difficult, why did you choose him? Surely there were plenty of young men and women clamoring for the favor of the Champion of Kirkwall.”

Hawke laughed. “Oh yes, a bunch of noble idiots begging for my ‘hand in marriage.’ As if I hadn’t had enough of nobility’s petty games. I didn’t buy that estate because I wanted to be nobility. I bought it because I wanted to give my mother a better life.” 

She began playing with the edge of her crimson scarf, twisting it through the fingers of her gauntlet. “If you want me to put a logical explanation to my heart’s whims, I would say I chose Fenris because he was always direct, straightforward. I never had to do any guessing about how he felt. It was always obvious. Even when I didn’t _like_ what he was telling me, I could always count on him to _say_ it. He _told_ me he wasn’t ready, that he’d moved too quickly. Had he not… I don’t know if I would have been willing to wait so long.”

She walked over to Cullen, putting one hand on each of his shoulders and looking him dead in his eyes. “So yes. Go. Talk. To. Her. You will regret _not_ doing so much more than any of the consequences of _doing so_. Love is _hard_ , but it is worth it. It is worth every awkward moment, every period of adjustment, every pain, every regret. But you will not know the reward if you do not take the risk.” She reached up to squeeze his cheeks between her hands (an act that certainly startled him, which is absolutely why she did it). “You _deserve_ happiness, Cullen. You’ve been through a great deal. I tease you, because I have the right to, but I mean it. You _do_ deserve it.”

She let go of his face, smirking. “Do you deserve _her?_ Now that’s up for debate. But then again, does anyone? She’s the bloody _Inquisitor,_ after all. But you won’t know if you don’t try.”

Cullen recovered himself, taking another deep breath and shaking his head at her eccentricity. “You… are right. Thank you, Hawke. Although you have not done what I asked.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m the Champion of Kirkwall.” She gave him one last affectionate pat on the cheek, then began heading toward the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go meet Stroud in Crestwood. Good luck!”

She headed out the door, pushing it closed behind her, unsurprised when a voice below her left shoulder piped up, “I’ll bet you a sovereign he chickens out.”

Hawke smirked, reaching into her purse and pulling out a gold coin, holding it in the air between herself and Varric. “I’ll take that bet. I think I made a pretty good case.”

“Well, then we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, Hawke did _not_ leave to go meet Stroud in Crestwood. At least not right away. Cullen’s successful attack on her own romantic troubles only made her more determined to see how _his_ turned out. So yes, she and Varric were _absolutely_ listening at the door as the Inquisitor made her way to Cullen’s office, her thin, scarred elven fingers fluttering with uncharacteristic nerves.

“I thought we could… talk. Alone.”

“Alone? I mean… of course.”

Hawke sent Varric an excited look. “Oh, _she_ went to _him!_ ”

But then footsteps were coming. They were coming to the battlements!

In a moment of panic, Hawke vaulted completely over the crenel in the battlement wall, dropping into a hard crouch in the dirt and brush twenty feet below. She was fine, of course, but was definitely amused by Varric exasperatedly shaking his head at her from where she’d jumped before ducking behind a line of supply crates himself, just in time for the door to open, and the Inquisitor to step out, Cullen following behind her, so obviously love-struck that he had no idea what to do with himself.

Never one to miss out on opportunities for drama, Hawke quickly made her way up the stairs back to the battlements from the other side of the fortress, quickly joining Varric in a spot just around the corner of the far tower where she could still hear them quite clearly, but could easily duck out of sight if necessary.

So she (and Varric) saw as the two drew closer, saw the hesitation, the extreme awkwardness, and then the growing confidence as she took firm hold of the conversation. He had not thought it possible. But he _hoped_ …

And then, of course, they watched as they _almost_ kissed, only to be interrupted by an oblivious messenger. At Cullen’s enraged “ _What?!”_ and the realization on the messenger’s face as he looked back and forth between the Inquisitor and the Commander, Hawke’s urge to laugh was so profound that she had to smother it in her gauntlet before she gave away her cover. Her eyes were watering and she was wheezing, but she managed it well enough.

Of course, even she was surprised when, as the messenger realized his heinous mistake and ran away, Cullen quickly turned and pulled Lavellan into a kiss, deep and desperate, and…

“Oh, he actually _went_ for it.”

“Aren’t _you_ the one who told him ‘actions over words’?” Varric piped up.

“Well, _yes_ , but I didn’t think he’d actually do it,” Hawke replied, turning away as the Inquisitor pulled Cullen into another, longer kiss, a satisfied smile on her face the whole time. Yes, she was _certainly_ a woman worthy of Hawke’s respect.

“But it means I win.”

Varric grimaced. “What? But I don’t think it should count since _she_ went to _him._ ”

Hawke shot him a look and Varric sighed, flicking a gold coin into the air, which she snatched with ease. “Glad _someone_ is actually competent with her feelings.”

“Oh, Aveline got there eventually,” Varric replied, chuckling to himself as they walked together down from the battlements. “Besides, are you much better? When you plan on telling Fenris where you are?”

“.............Soon.”

“Liar.”

“Look who’s talking! I thought the Seeker was going to _kill_ you for lying to her.”

“I was protecting you!”

“Well, stop that. You _and_ Fenris. I will be fine.” She glanced one last time at the battlements, smiling as she slid her helmet back over her black hair. “And so will they.”


End file.
